冷水花假楼梯草 leng shui hua jia lou ti cao

Herbs annual, monoecious. Stems branched or simple, 5-20 cm tall, subglabrous. Stipules oblong, 3-5 mm, membranous, apex obtuse; petiole 0.5-1.5 cm, sparsely pubescent or subglabrous; leaf blade unequal in same pair, ovate, 1.8-4 × 1.2-2.3 cm, membranous, 3-veined, lateral basal pair reaching to middle and anastomosing with adjacent secondary veins before margin or to teeth, lateral veins 3 or 4 on each side, sparsely hirsute adaxially, sparsely pubescent on veins abaxially, base obliquely cuneate, rarely rounded, margin 7-11-serrate each side, apex acute or short acuminate; cystoliths linear; proximal leaves rather small, usually rhombic-orbicular, margin several serrate or entire. Male inflorescences few flowered, capitate or cymose, receptacle inconspicuous or absent, shortly pedunculate, 4-7 mm. Female inflorescences many flowered, sometimes mixed with males, on discoid receptacle; peduncle 0.6-1.5 cm; involucral bracts in 1 row. Male flowers pedicellate, in bud obconic, 1-1.5 mm; perianth lobes 4(or 5) unequal, obovate-oblong, with a few setulose hairs, corniculate below apex; stamens 4(or 5); rudimetary ovary minute, conic. Female flowers: perianth lobes 4, strongly unequal, with a few setulose hairs, long corniculate below apex; staminodes conspicuous, squamate; stigma penicillate. Achene brownish, ovoid-oblong, ca. 0.8 mm, crested at dorsal edge, botuliform-verrucose. Fl. Jul-Aug, fr. Sep-Oct.

* Shady places of limestone mountains; ca. 2100 m. SW Guizhou, E Yunnan.